First football match to be played in Somalia at night in more than 30 years

It will be a shining night in Somalia, as the final match of the 2017 edition of the district level youth football tourney is to take place at the FIFA refurbished stadium Banadir on Friday evening.

Somali Football Federation has confirmed that Waaberi
District youth football team will take on their Hodan district rivals on Friday
evening, 8th of September, in what will be recognized as a shining
night in the recent history of Somali football, as it was more than 30 years
ago when the last match was played in Somalia at night.

Sponsored by the Mayor of Somalia’s capital, Mr. Thabet
Abdi Mohamed, the four-week long football tournament has brought together some
391 young footballers, all aged 16, 17 and 18 years. They were representing their
respected districts. This is the 3rd edition of the competition and
it is normally sponsored by the Mayor of the capital, but it is not to be
confused with the National youth football league which is played by U 15s.

"I take this opportunity to thank the Mayor of the
capital, Thabet Abdi Mohamed, for his commitment to help the development of our
sport. He is a young man who loves football and his full sponsorship for the
competition makes a big sense for us” Somali Football Federation president,
Abdiqani Said Arab, said in a statement.

"Such competitions help us identify young and talented
footballers. They will be taken for the National youth team and our clubs will
also benefit from them” SFF president’s statement reads.

It is a significant progress that young coaches trained
by the Somali Football federation are also leading all 17 teams in the
competition, which would mean that it is an all-youth tournament.

However, during the competition, technical team has been
assigned to make a selection of the most talented boys, and according to the
SFF technical department some 102 players have been shortlisted. Somali
Football Federation said that a training program will be drawn for the shortlisted
footballers.